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-BULL. -BOT. S URV. IND-IA- Val. 47, Nos. 1-4 : pp. 159-162, 2005 CONTRIBUTION TO THE FLORA OF HIMACHAL PRADESH FROM PIN VALLEY NATIONAL PARK S. K. SRIVASTAVA* K. CHANDRSAE KAR AND ~otanicalS urvey of India, Nothenz Circle, Dehradun 248 195 A critical study of the specimens, recently collected from the Pin Valley National Park of Lahaul- Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh and perusal of literature revealed that five taxa belonging to the family Poaceae viz., Hordeum brevisubulatum (Trin.) Link subsp. nevskianum (Bowden) Tzvelev, Poa aitchisonii Boiss, Poa attenuata Trin, Pea kanaii Rajb. and Stipa arabica Trin. & Rupr., were hitherto unknown from the state of Himachal Pradesh (Chowdhery and Wadhwa, 1984; Uniyal and Mathur, 1991; Singh & al. 1993; Aswal and Mehrotra, 1994; Sharma and Singh, 1996; Sharma and Dhaliwal, 1997; Sharma and Kaur, 1999; M h , 2 001; Singh & al, 2003; Chandra Sekar & aL, 2003,2004; Chandra Sekar and Srivastava, 2004). These have been enumerated in the Present communication, with currently accepted name, brief citation, basionym if any, brief description, phenology, ecology, distribution in India & outside and exsiccata. Hordeum brevisubulatum (Trin.) Link subsp. nevskianum (Bowden) Tzvelev in Nov. Sist. Yssh. Rast. 197 1: 66.197 1; Cope in Nasir & Ali, Fl. Pakistan 143: 4€ 0. 1982. Hordeum nevskianum Bowden in Can. J. Genet. Cytol. 7: 396. 1965. Perennials, tufted. Culms geniculately ascending, up to 70 cm high. Leaf-blades 12- 14 cm long, 1-3 mm wide, glabrous. Spike slender, 1.8-2 cm long; rhachis smooth, scabrid on nerves. Glumes setaceous, 2.5-4 mm long, scabrid. Lemmas lanceolate, 2.5-3.5 mm long, scabrid to puberulous, awn tipped; awn 1.8-2.2 mm long. Palea as long as the lemma. Anthers 1.8-2.2 rnm long. Fl. & Fr : July September. Scarce on moist slopes near streams. Hirnachal Pradesh: ~ahaul-Spit-P;i n Valley National Park, Therbik-Larang La, 4950 m, 25.08.2002, K. Chandra Sekar 10 0689 (BSD). Distrib. : India: Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir; Pakistan, Western Siberia, Afghanistan, Western China and Nepal. *Present Address : Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, U.K. Date of receipt : 10.08.2004. Date of acceptance : 15.07.2005. 160 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS BULL. BOT. SURV-OF INDIA VOL. 47 (1-4). 2005 Poa aitchisonii Boiss., Fl. Orient. 5: 602. 1884; Bor, Grass. Burma, Ceylon, India & Pakistan 554.1960; Cope in Nasir & Ali, FI. Pakistan 143: 414.1982. Perennials, tufted. Culms geniculate below, up to 30 cm high, terete, smooth. Leaf-blades linear, 20-80 x 2-4 mm, acuminate; ligules 0.8-1 mm long. Panicle lanceolate-oblong; branches spreading, lower branches 2. Spikelets oblong, 4.5-8 mm long, 3-5-flowered. Lower glume 1.8-3 x 0.7-1 mm, subulate, I-nerved; upper glume ovate-lanceolate, 2-3.5 x 1-1.6 mm, 3-nerved. Rachillas 0.5-1 mm long. Callus glabrous. Lemmas oblong, 2.8-4 x 1.5-1.9 mm, obtuse, margins hyaline, surface glabrous, keel scabrid or sparsely ciliate on the lower part. Paleas elliptic, 2.2-3.2 x 0.6-0.7 mm, keels scabrid. Caryopsis 1.2 -1.6 mm long. FI. & FK : July September. Scarce on moist slopes. Himachal Pradesh: Lahaul-Spiti; Pin Valley National Park, Chhohem, 4150 m, 12.07.2003, K. Chandra Sekar 103221 (BSD). Distrib. : India: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttaranchal; Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Poa attenuata Trin. in Mem. Acad. Sci. Petersb. Say. Etrang. 2: 327. 1835; Cope in Nasir & Ali, Fl. Pakistan 143: 417. 1982. Perenniab, tufted. Culrns erect, up to 33 cm high. Leaf-blades 1.5-5 cm long; ligules 1.5-3 rnrn long. Panicle oblong-lanceolate, 1.5-6 x 0.5-1 cm. Spikelets efiptic, 45.5 rnm long, 24flowered. Lower glurnes ovate, 2-3.2 x 0.9-1.1, 3-nerved; upper glumes ovate-elliptic, 2.5-3.5 x 1-1.3 mm, acute, 3-nerved. Callus glabrous. Lemmas elliptic-oblong, 2-3.2 x 1.5-1.6 mm, surface glabrous, keel ciliate on from base to about the middle. Paleas elliptic-oblong, 2.5-2.9 x 0.4-0.7 mm, keel scabrid. Anthers 1-1.2 mm long. F1. & Fr. :J uly September. Scarce on rocky slopes. Himachal Pradesh: Lahaul-Spiti; Pin Valley National Park, Chhohem, 4100 m, 13.07.2003, K. Chandra Sekar 103251 (BSD). Distrib. : India: Himachal Pradesh, Jamrnu & Kashmir and Uttaranchal. Pakistan, Central Asia, Siberia and Mongolia. Poa kanaii Rajbh. in Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 39: 58. 1988 et in Ohba & MalIa, The Himalayan Plants 2: 213. 1991. Perennials, loosely tufted. Culms erect, up to 18 cm high, terete, smooth. Leafblades linear, 3-4 cm long, 1-2 rnrn wide; ligules 2-3 mm long. Panicle ovate-oblong, 1.54 x 0.6-0.8 cm, branches sparsely SHORT COMMUNICATIONS : BULL. BOT. SURV. INDIA VOL. 47 (1-4), 2005 161 spreading. Spikelets elliptic, 4.54.7 mm long, 2-3 flowered. Lower glume elliptic, 2-3.8 x 1-1.5 mm, acute, 1-3-nerved; upper glume elliptic, 3-43 x 1.5-2 mrn, acute, 3-nerved. Callus glabrous. Lemmas ovate- elliptic, 4-4.5 x 1.8-2.2 mm, surface minutely scabrid on lower part, keel ciliate on lower third. Paleas elliptic-oblong, 3-3.7 x 0.5-0.7 mrn, keels scabrid. Anthers 1.2-1.8 mm long. Fl. & FE: July September. Scarce on rocky slopes. Himachal Pradesh: Lahaul-Spiti; Pin Valley National Park, Near Mud, 3700 m, 02.08.2002, K. Chandra Sekar 102840 (BSD). Distrib. : India: Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal; Nepal. Note : It closely resembles R pagophila Bar in ligule and floral characters, but differs in having the anthers 1.2-1.8 mrn long (versus pagophila in 2-3 im long anthers). Previously known only from Garhwal Himalaya (Gangotri) in the state of Uttaranchal (Gaur & Nautiyal, 1995). Stipa arabica Trin. & Rupr., Sp. Gram. Strip. 77. 1842; Cope in Nasir & Ali, Fl. Pakistan 143: 420. 1982. Perennials. Culms ascending, up to 70 cm high. Leaf-blades involute and setaceous, up to 2.5 mrn wide when flattened, sparsely pubescent. Panicle linear, 15-35 cm long, partially enclosed by the slightly inflated sheath of the uppermost leaf. Ghmes narrowly lanceolate, 2.5-3.5 cm long, long acuminate, 3-nerved. Lemmas, terete, 8-11.5 mm long, shortly hairy with rows of hairs not quite reaching the summit, with a crown of hairs at the tip; awn bigeniculate, 10-20 cm long, articulated at the base, column hairs 0.5-1 mrn long, bristle plumose with hairs 2-4 rnrn long. Fl. & FK: July September. Common on moist rocky slopes. Himachal Pradesh: Lahaul-Spiti; Pin Valley National Park, Chhohem,. 4 100 m, 13.07.2003, K. Chundra Sekar 103274 (BSD). Distrib. : India: Himachal Pradesh and Jmmu & Kashmir; Sinai eastwards through Iran, the Caucasus and Afghanistan to Pakistan, Southern USSR. The authors are thankful to the Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata for facilities; to the Joint Director, Botanical Survey of India, lld~radunf or facilities and encouragement. We also thank the Director, Pin Valley National Park for logistic help during the plant exploration in the Park. Thanks are also due to Shri B.P. Uniyal and Shri. Surendra Singh for helpful suggestions. One of us (KC) is also grateful to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi, for financial assistance. 162 SHORT COMMUNICATIONS BULL. BOT. SURV-OF INDIA VOL. 47 (1-4), 2005 REFERENCES ASWALB, .S. AND B.N. MEHRoTRA. Flora of Lahaul Spiti. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun. 1994. CHANDRSAE KARK, ., S.K. SRNASTAVAAND D. K. SINGHS. ome interesting plant records from Pin Valley National Park, Lahaul Spiti, Hirnachal Pradesh. Indian J. For. 26 (2) : 97-99. 2003. , AND S.K. MURTIN. ewly recorded taxa from Lahaul-Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. Ann. For: 11 (I) : 52-58. 2003. , , AND R.D. 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